Riziki News – September 2016Dear All,As we have not been in Kenya since our last newsletter, this letter is based on emails received from Julius in September.

Phylis, Grace and AnnThe children opened school for 3rd term on 30th August and on 31st August they sat for school opener exams and we wait to see the results. Collins opened on 29th August, Lucy on 31st and Faith on 4th September.Several children have been sick, complaining of different illnesses. Grace has a leg wound that does not want to heal. On 6th September 2016 Esther and I took her to St. Mary’s hospital, near Gilgil, together with Dennis and Neema. Grace was diagnosed with a chronic bone something-I-cannot-remember which is making the wound not to heal. She will return for further treatment when the schools close. Dennis has a problem with the leg which was operated on in 2013. It keeps on giving him pain; he limps and he cannot wear closed shoes. He will go back to clinic on 6th October 2016, God willing. Neema has eye problems with light. She was checked at PGH eye clinic. They recommended glasses but we thought it was not the right thing, so we sought a different opinion. Here the doctor said she will be okay. (It can be very difficult to find the right medical facility to get a correct diagnosis – Ian)Now for the good news! All the children performed very well in their 2nd term 2016 exams. Therefore to appreciate their hard work we took them on 24th August to Lake Bogoria, We saw many flamingos, the hot springs and seven greater kudus in different parts of the park. The children enjoyed the day and were extremely happy.On the 29th August a friend of mine for many years, Peter from Maasai Mara - from one of the villages near the Sekenani Gate - visited Riziki home and gave the children a big treat. He bought them a full goat from the butchery at Menengai centre. The older children, with the help of our Masai friend, roasted some of the meat and the rest was boiled. We ate with ugali and we all enjoyed it very much. The children, one after another, stood up and thanked him for his generosity and they all wished him and his family well. The other half of the goat was kept in the deep freezer for them to eat as they wish. What a wonderful day planned by God. On 3rd September that friend of Riziki who brings us firewood sent a lorry full of firewood as you saw that time you were here. What a friend? May God bless him and keep him well, together with his entire family.On 6th September when Esther and I took the three children to St. Mary’s hospital. I was surprised to learn that when they were registering they all used my name as their third name. I followed this up and discovered that not only these three, but all the Riziki children, register in this way when they go to hospitals. Why? I do not know - nobody has ever told them to do so. (This does illustrate how much the children love and respect Julius and how they feel to be part of the Riziki family – Ian.)Grace was asked to go for HIV test - we have never seen her so frightened, scared and confused but, thank God, the results were negative so she came back to life! Dennis Yego joined Riziki as a gardener on 5th July and he is doing well together with Daniel Lotere. We are still waiting for the quotations for the building work we need for rooms for the older children. This is to satisfy the children’s services. We trust that the quotations will soon be ready.We have harvested beans and now we are harvesting the maize. We have planted tomatoes and green capsicum in the greenhouse and the cows are doing well, Turi is the only one producing milk, We thought that she was pregnant but it has turned out to be false so she has now been served again. Joy is still expecting in October 2016. I held a meeting with Benson (Chairman of the board) on 7th September and we discussed quite a number of issues to do with Riziki. We revisited the issue of a digital Library system for the children which consists of five wireless receivers at a cost of KES.10,000 (£80) and the digital library server at a cost of KES.50,000 (£400) and he mentioned that once installed the service will be free. (I had never heard of a digital library and Google made it no clearer for me! We will doubtless find out more about this on our next visit – Ian.)The pressure treated posts for the new security fence have been delivered and we should have completed the installation by the time you read this. They arrived from Nairobi on 30th August at 5.00 am; the driver of the truck picked me up from home to show him the way to Riziki. At 5.40 am we were at Riziki offloading. We thank God the family is doing well. The eye continues to heal well and we thank God for that. The Riziki children are all well, let us say, hoping and trusting that Grace and Dennis will get better.Our greetings to all of you,Julius

On September 10th we held another coffee morning and afternoon tea at our home. The weather recovered enough for the garden to be full in the afternoon making the event a success. On October 2nd we will be having a lunch at our previous church in Lindley to raise money for Riziki and a home in India and expect around sixty diners for a five course lunch. We don’t charge for these events but invite donations and always have a good response.Ian & Diana

We are very grateful to all our supporters for what they are able to give and would be delighted to supply relevant information to anyone else who wishes to donate regularly, or occasionally, to Riziki. Gaggia Caffe Shop, based in Elland has a feature on Riziki on their website. This can be accessed on www.gaggiacaffe.tv. Our own Riziki website is accessed on http://www.riziki.org.uk.​